The Des Moines Art Center now owns a 560-pound pile of porcelain sunflower seeds created by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. / Special to the Register

Written by

'Dangos' artist has multiple talents

The Omaha sculptor Jun Kaneko is best known in Des Moines for the five ceramic pillars — the so-called “dangos” — he installed last fall at the Hub Spot on the Principal Riverwalk downtown.

But he’s a man of many talents. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City announced this week that it has commissioned the Japanese-born artist to design the sets for a new staging of “The Magic Flute,” opening in November in Kansas City’s newish Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Kaneko has previously designed sets for “Madama Butterfly” and “Fidelio” for Opera Omaha, San Francisco Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater and others.

Art worth more than a hill of beans

Sure, Jack had a few magic beans. Big whup. The Des Moines Art Center now owns a 560-pound pile of porcelain sunflower seeds created by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

The seeds were part of the hugely popular artist’s 100-million-seed display three years ago at the Tate gallery in London. (Some 1,600 assistants painted each seed by hand.) Ai had intended for visitors to wade through the installation like pebbles on a beach, but the dust it kicked up prompted museum staffers to rope it off. Look, don’t touch.

The artwork connects with China’s ancient porcelain art, as well as the country’s more recent history of mass production, collective labor and globalization. On a more personal note, Ai recalls attending community political meetings as a kid, when citizens often chewed on sunflower seeds, anxious for the debates to begin.

The Art Center didn’t disclose the price for the seeds it bought late last year, but you can bet they’re worth more than the cow Jack swapped for the beans. Last year Sotheby’s sold 1 ton of the seeds for almost $800,000.